1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method of coloring an image of an original document read through a scanner or like image reader to give coloring to specified regions of the image with desired colors, and an image processing system used for the practice of the image processing method.
2. Prior Art Statement
There is known an image processing system by which an image of a document is read through a scanner, and the thus read image is colored or a part of the image is taken out to be combined with other images or subjected to various image processing, and then put out the thus processed image to a printer.
The areas of the image, which are to be subjected to image processing, are designated by a digitizer or like area input means, and the designated areas are colored and/or patterned. However, professional sense supported by a lot of experience is required to selectively determine the colors from variant colors. For instance, in color printing, by varying the intensities and ratios of three primary colors, enormous number (for example, up to 260,000) of colors could be put out.
In the known image processing system, a predetermined number (for example 512) of colors are registered as standard colors, so that the system may be readily used by a non-professional or untrained person. In some systems, a pre-set number (for example 50) of colors, which are most frequently used, are registered as basic colors and an additional number (for example 30) of colors are registered as an optional group to help easier and earlier color selection by the user.
However, even if the number of colors has been thus restricted, selection of colors requires professional sense and experiences. The color range is changed depending on the color tone used to express some desired impressions.
In order to give different impressions, such as elegant, sporty, classic or modernized atmospohere, the used colors must be delicately varied. In other words, different colors give different impressions to individual persons, and the mental affection induced by particular color is generally common to individuals although the intensities of affection are somehow different.
As to the hue, warm and cold impressions are given by warm colors (reddish purple, red, yellowish red and other yellowish colors) and cold colors (bluish green, blue and bluish purple colors). Positive emotion, such as excitement, activity or delightfulness is induced by a warm color, whereas negative or passive emotion, such as stillness, profoundness or loneliness is induced by a cold color. The brightness of color gives a bright or heavy mental emotion such that a bright color is bound to a light, soft, plain, cool, clean and static feeling, whereas a dark color is bound to a dignified, calm, old or traditional impression. On the other hand, the color saturation (chroma) is mainly connected to a mental affection of gaudy or sober impression, so that a vivid color induces violence, passion or activity whereas a somber color induces gentleness, modesty, soundness and dreary (desolate) feeling.
As should be seen from the foregoing that since colors give or induce variable mental effect to a person who sees the colored image, professional knowledge is required in determination of color arrangement, or determination of color arrangement is difficult without proffesional knowledge. Failure of color arrangement leads to useless printed copies.